Dish box



Jung 30, 1959 FRANK 2,892,561

DISH BOX Filed Nov. 19, 1957 INVENTOR. D F! V I D FR F! N K HTTURNEIY United States Patent DISH BOX David Frank, East Rockaway, N.Y. Application November 19, 1957, Serial No. 697,452

1 Claim. (c1. 220-4) This invention relates to containers and, more particularly, to a box for use in collecting and holding soiled dishes, culinary devices and the like.

Boxes used for collecting and holding soiled dishes and culinary devices especially in restaurants, for example, are usually transported on trucks wheeled to the tables where the dishes and culinary devices are usually promiscuously dumped in a hurry into the box so that the box is subjected to considerable strain and abuse resulting in damage necessitating replacement after a short time.

It is, therefore, a primary object of the present invention to provide a box capable of holding dishes and culinary devices and the like that is sturdy in construction and that can be manufactured and sold at a reasonable cost.

Another object of the invention is to provide a box of this character that is adapted to fit on the shelf of a wheeled truck and is adapted to be readily and easily slid or lifted off and onto a shelf of a wheeled truck.

A further object of the invention is to provide a box of this character with hand holes permitting ready insertion of the hands therein regardless of the contents of the box, and protecting the hands from such contents.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a box of this character with a bottom having means in common for supporting the dishes off of the bottom of the box and for reinforcing the bottom -to prevent denting or deformation of the bottom.

A specific object of the invention is to provide a four-sided dish box with a smooth, uninterrupted interior and with the top edges of the side walls reinforced.

For'further comprehension of the invention, and of the objects and advantages thereof, reference will be had to the following description and accompanying drawings, and to the appended claim in which the various novel features of the invention are more particularly set forth.

In the accompanying drawings forming a material part of this disclosure:

Fig. 1 is a top perspective view of a box embodying my invention.

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view taken on the plane of the line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken on the plane of the line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary top perspective view of a comer of the box.

Fig. 5 is a horizontal sectional view taken on the plane of the line 5-5 of Fig. 4.

Referring particularly to Fig. 1 of the drawings, a box made in accordance with the invention is generally designated and is preferably formed of sheet metal or 'of any other suitable material. The box 10 is panshaped and comprises a bottom wall 11, end walls 12 and side walls 13, and is open at the top. The bottom and end walls are preferably formed of a single rectangular sheet of metal suitably bent at its ends to form the end walls. The side walls 13 comprise panels of the same walls and bending each extension upon itself as indicated at 16.

The metal of the bottom and end walls are extended laterally outwardly of the plane of the side walls sufficiently far to form a flange 17. Each flange 17 is bent upon itself as indicated at 18 and around the bent portion of the flange 16 of the adjacent side and end walls outwardly of the plane of the side wall.

The seam construction is tight and seals the juncture between the walls so that there are no open seams into which water can enter and rust the joint. The seams also add rigidity to the box and particularly the end walls.

The upper edges of the side and end walls are curled around a top reinforcing wire 20, the extreme edges of the curled over portion being back in toward the beads 21 thus formed. The beads are disposed outwardly of the plane side and end walls so that the box has a smooth interior, uninterrupted by inward projections on the side and end walls.

A hand hole 23 is provided in each of the end walls 12 at the top and centrally thereof. The hand hole is formed by slitting the material of the end wall along its top edge parallel therewith and then slitting it downwardly as viewed in Fig. 3 for a short distance at each end of the top slit. The material of the end wall underneath and adjacent the slitted portion is indented or pressed inwardly providing an inwardly extending curved indentation 24, offset inwardly from the plane of the end wall, leaving a clearance 25 between the reinforcing wire 20 and the offset indentation 24 to facilitate entry of the fingers of the user behind and around the reinforcing wire member, which serves as a handle portion for the box. The slitted portion of the material is bent inwardly against the top edge of the indentation 24 as indicated at 26 providing a smooth upper top edge therefor and at the same time reinforcing the indentation at said top edge. By reason of this hand hole construction, the fingers of the hand are protected by the ofiset indentation 24 against injury by the dishes or other contents of the box. Furthermore, because of this construction of the handle grips it is possible to fill the container or dish pan with liquid to a greater height than a dish pan with the conventional type of cut-out handle.

Spaced elongated protuberances or ribs 30 are preferably formed along the inner surface of the bottom wall 11 so that dishes placed on the bottom Wall will be supported olf of the bottom wall to permit any moisture to drain off of the dishes. The protuberances or ribs 30 also reinforce and add rigidity to the bottom wall thereby preventing the wall from buckling and otherwise becoming deformed.

While I have illustrated and described the preferred embodiment of my invention, it is to be understood that I do not limit myself to the precise construction herein disclosed and that various changes and modifications may be made within the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claim.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by United States Letters Patent is:

A dish box, comprising a rectangular pan-shaped body having flat bottom, side and end walls and being open at the top, said bottom and end walls being formed from a single strip of sheet metal bent into rectangular U- shaped configuration, each of the side walls being formed by a rectangular sheet metal panel, a rectangular endless reinforcing wire member, upper edges of the side and end walls being curled around said member, said side walls being joined to lateral edges of the end walls and bottom by rectangular U-shaped seams, said seams being formed by bending the lateral edges of the end walls to interlock and overlap with oppositely bent lateral edges of the side walls to form water-tight joints, the joints being reinforced by the interlocked and overlapped edges, there being hand holes formed in the respective end walls by slitting the end walls parallel to their top edges and downwardly at the ends of the slits towards the bottom, leaving narrow webs between the slits and said member, pressing the slit material inwardly to form curved indentations, and turning the upper cut edges of the indentations downwardly to provide smooth, folded upper edges for the indentations, said member reinforcing said webs and providing handles for the body while said indentations serve as finger guards.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 459,697 Atkinson Sept. 15, 1891 601,661 Knight Apr. 5, 1898 1,234,730 Chapman July 31, 1917 1,948,041 McCowan Feb. 20, 1934 FOREIGN PATENTS 651,877 Great Britain Apr. 11, 1951 

